Structural Evolution of Chemically-Driven RuO2 Nanowires and 3-Dimensional Design for Photo-Catalytic Applications.

Growth mechanism of chemically-driven RuO2 nanowires is explored and used to fabricate three-dimensional RuO2 branched Au-TiO2 nanowire electrodes for the photostable solar water oxidation. For the real time structural evolution during the nanowire growth, the amorphous RuO2 precursors (Ru(OH)3 · H2O) are heated at 180 (°)C, producing the RuO2 nanoparticles with the tetragonal crystallographic structure and Ru enriched amorphous phases, observed through the in-situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction and the high-resolution transmission electron microscope images. Growth then proceeds by Ru diffusion to the nanoparticles, followed by the diffusion to the growing surface of the nanowire in oxygen ambient, supported by the nucleation theory. The RuO2 branched Au-TiO2 nanowire arrays shows a remarkable enhancement in the photocurrent density by approximately 60% and 200%, in the UV-visible and Visible region, respectively, compared with pristine TiO2 nanowires. Furthermore, there is no significant decrease in the device's photoconductance with UV-visible illumination during 1 day, making it possible to produce oxygen gas without the loss of the photoactvity.

Highly efficient electrochemical responses on single crystalline ruthenium-vanadium mixed metal oxide nanowires.

Highly efficient single crystalline ruthenium-vanadium mixed metal oxide (Ru1-xVxO2, 0≤x≤1) nanowires were prepared on a SiO2 substrate and a commercial Au microelectrode for the first time through a vapor-phase transport process by adjusting the mixing ratios of RuO2 and VO2 precursors. Single crystalline Ru1-xVxO2 nanowires show homogeneous solid-solution characteristics as well as the distinct feature of having remarkably narrow dimensional distributions. The electrochemical observations of a Ru1-xVxO2 (x=0.28 and 0.66)-decorated Au microelectrode using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrate favorable charge-transfer kinetics of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- and Ru(NH3)6(3+/2+) couples compared to that of a bare Au microelectrode. The catalytic activity of Ru1-xVxO2 for oxygen and H2O2 reduction at neutral pH increases as the fraction of vanadium increases within our experimental conditions, which might be useful in the area of biofuel cells and biosensors.